Bill To Ban Texting While Driving Advances To Texas Senate

The Texas Senate is one step closer to passing a statewide ban on texting while behind the wheel, but there will be an exception.

Dug Begley of the Houston Chronicle reports that the most up-to-date version of the bill to ban texting, HB 62, was passed along to the full Senate floor. Many revisions have been made to the bill in order for it to reach the full satisfaction of members of the legislature.

The revisions of the bill have outlawed texting while driving, but would allow motorists to use their phone's GPS function while on the road. If the bill were to be made into a law, the authorities would have to catch one in the act of texting and driving or be able to provide evidence that it happened in order to write someone a ticket for the offense. The bill as currently written would outlaw texting while a vehicle is in motion, so you're stopped at a stop light or intersection, you'll still have the freedom to text.

Passage of the bill has proven to be a tedious process for the State of Texas, and there remains a great deal of work to be done in order to make it a reality. The bill would have to be put on the intent calendar, as the Texas Senate is coming to the end of the legislative period at the end of this month.

The hope is that this bill could help prevent accidents such as the one that occurred in Uvalde County back in March, in which 13 senor citizens aboard a church bus were killed by a young driver who was texting. Only time will tell if this bill will become a law, but it will definitely make our roads much safer here in the great State of Texas.